Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 18th, 2004
Synopsis
Virginia Madsen and Kasi Lemmons are working on a thesis on urban legends. They haveheard several version of the Candyman story, and they trace it back to its origins at the horrificChicago housing project Cabrini Green. Madsen destroys the legend by exposing the truth, whichforces the legend to become real. Candyman (Tony Todd) frames Madsen for his own crimes,and threatens worse unless she voluntarily surrenders to be his victim.
Writer/director Bernard Rose (whos...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 12th, 2004
Synopsis
On the cusp of graduation, honour student Emile Hirsch’s quiet, orderly life is thrown intochaos when he falls in love with girl next door Elisha Cuthbert, who turns out to be a porn star.Hirsch’s reaction to this revelation drives a wedge between the couple, and pushes Cuthbert backinto the industry. Hirsch’s attempts to redeem himself lead him into deeper and deepertrouble.
This is not another would-be American Pie (though apparently the script started out...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 10th, 2004
Synopsis
Released on parole after serving 15 years for the murder of his wife, Rutger Hauer becomesthe new case for social worker Natasha Richardson. This being one of those thrillers we’ve seena million times before, Richardson naturally suspects that Hauer is innocent after all, andpromptly falls in love with him. She begins investigating the case, and someone doesn’t takekindly to the fact that she is digging up the past.
Any viewer who actually falls for the did-he-or-di...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 9th, 2004
When I was a kid in the 80’s, Predator was one of those films that you weren’t supposed to watch, but everybody did anyway. Over-the-top action, invincible heroes, cheesy one-liners and big, big explosions made this a film that was a favorite of pre-pubescent boys everywhere. Going into this disc, I found myself wondering if the film would stand up to the harsh tests of time and maturity.
The answer to that question is both “yes”, and “no”. In the “no” column, it is very apparent early on in the film...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 2nd, 2004
Synopsis
Village of the Damned (1960) is the best of the films based on the novels of JohnWyndham (in this case the sources is The Midwich Cuckoos. At 11 o’clock onemorning, every living thing in Midwich falls asleep. Hours later, all awake, apparently none theworse. But shortly thereafter, it turns out that every woman capable of bearing children ispregnant. When the babies are born, they are all blond, eerily similar, and possessed offrightening intelligence and powe...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 1st, 2004
Synopsis
Anne Hathaway plays 15-year-old (yeah, right) Mia, whose life is a gawky teenagenightmare. Then her life is turned upside down by the arrival in San Francisco of hergrandmother (Julie Andrews), who is queen of the mythical country of Genovia, and she needsMia to shoulder her responsibilities as heir to the throne, or Genovia will cease to exist. Miaundergoes a radical make-over, and clumsily fumbles her way through lessons on how to be aprincess.
You have to wonde...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 31st, 2004
Comic book characters have provided a large slate of movie productions in recent years. This really isn’t anything new; both Superman and Batman have each fueled successful film franchises (It should be noted that both are soon to return). Spider-Man’s record take opened a new floodgate. Some have been quite disappointing (The Hulk and The Punisher) while a few (X-Men and Spider-Man) have provided outstanding products. Hellboy fits somewhere in the middle. The character is somewhat lesser known and considerably more ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 29th, 2004
Synopsis
The title says it all as far as our principle characters are concerned. They are coming of age ina world so inimical to them (thank you, Baby Boomers) that their survival response is cynicismand disengagement. The leads are Winona Ryder as a would-be filmmaker in a humiliating job,Ethan Hawke as the slacker who can’t express his true feelings for Ryder, and Ben Stiller as thecareer guy who also courts Ryder. Also here are friends Janeane Garofalo and Steven Zahn asequally c...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 27th, 2004
Synopsis
Young women are being murdered in London. The reference, of course, is to Jack the Ripper,but in this story, the killer is Mr. Hyde, who is collecting their souls so that Dr. Jekyll (no moremoral than his monstrous alter ego) can transform Queen Victoria (with whom he is obsessed)into a young woman. The Vatican sends Van Helsing to London to stop the monster, and theensuing adventure sets the scene for the opening Mr. Hyde battle in the feature film.
Though designed...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 26th, 2004
Synopsis
Repressed, timid writer Alan Bates arrives in Crete with the goal of re-opening a mine leftto him by his father. On the way to the small village where he will live, he hooks up with theexuberant Zorba (Anthony Quinn, who, as an American of Irish and Mexican extraction, is nomore Greek than Bates). Bates puts Quinn in charge of the mine, and Quinn sets himself themission of teaching Bates how to take risks in life.
The broad arc of the story -- repressed Anglo-Saxon ...
